Tuesday, February 24, 2009

I mentioned these candies a few weeks ago, Necco Sweethearts inspired by the movie Twilight. I found them at a FYE store in the mall. The display housing the candy was huge, at least 5 feet tall, making it nearly impossible to miss. The boxes are comparable to the large, movie theater size candies and come in three different designs. Box 1 features the Twilight cast, Box 2 features Edward (as shown above), and Box 3 features Bella. The candies are officially called Sweethearts Forbidden Fruit, playing off of the verboten love between Edward the vampire, and Bella, a human chick.

You would have to live under a rock not to be familiar with Necco Sweethearts, the tiny candy hearts with clever little messages such as "Be Mine" stamped on them in red ink. The Twilight hearts differ from the original in three ways. First, there are four "exotic" flavors - Orange Obsession, Tempting Apple, Secret Strawberry, and Passion Fruit. I'm really digging the strawberry and apple flavors. The strawberry reminds me Strawberry Bubbilicious. I'm not the biggest orange fan, but Orange Obsession is okay. I've had some pieces that taste like a Creamsicle and others that have a nice tang like orange Tic-Tacs. The purple Passion Fruit flavor is just plain awful, almost to the point of being inedible. Seriously, it tastes like bubble bath or a stinky candle that would be sold at the dollar store. The tagline on the box reads, "The Forbidden Fruit Tastes the Sweetest", but in the case of the Passion Fruit, I can't help but think that some things are forbidden for a reason.

The messages imprinted on the Twilight hearts also reflect themes from the story. A few examples are "Bite Me" (vampire...get it?), "I [heart] EC", "Lamb", and "Dazzle." In the story, Edward's skin sparkles like diamonds when he's exposed to the sun. The "dazzle" theme is also played upon by the candies' having a shimmering glitter dusted on the tops of them. The effect is very slight and hardly noticeable on most of the pieces. You may be able to make it out on the purple and orange hearts pictured in my photo above.

I imagine fans of the Twilight books and movie will collect these boxes for their novelty. From a candy standpoint, the strawberry and apple heart flavors are winners; orange and passion fruit need some more work in the test lab.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Imagine my surprise when I happened upon this box of Good & Fiery while candy shopping this afternoon. "Good & Fiery", I thought to myself, "I didn't even know these were coming out!" Naturally I laid down my $1.65 and bought a box. It's obvious from the name, font, and box design that the Fierys' are a member of the Hershey Company's "Good & Plenty" family. This same company caused quite a stir in the candy world about a year ago when they reintroduced Good & Fruity as a thick-shelled jelly bean, instead of the awesome candy coated red licorce bits they used to be in the 1980s. While I personally don't despise the new Good & Fruity, I don't think they are comparable to version I remember from my youth. I was curious where in the jelly bean/licorce world the Good & Fiery would fall.

The box describes this candy as "sweet & spicy chewy candy." There are four flavors in the box - lemon, orange, apple, and cinnamon. The inclusion of fruit flavors is a little strange. I would have been satisfied if the entire box was just plain ol' cinnamon bits. The cinnamon pieces have a deep red shell that cracks easily to reveal a clear jelly bean-like center. Just like the box promises, it is both sweet and spicy. It packs more heat than a Hot Tamale and I enjoy the size of the pieces. They're small enough that I can eat a bunch without getting a stomachache. I was not as keen on the other flavors. The lemon tastes like lemon and cinnamon. It reminds me of tea that I would drink when I have a cold. The orange tastes like orange and cinnamon, see a pattern here? Orange is always my least favorite candy flavor. This one does nothing for me, I even find it kind of bitter. The apple bits remind me of a crisp autumn day, because they taste like spiced apple cider...or a bowl of potpourri, take your pick.

I do like this mix and will probably continue to pick from the box. The cinnamon pieces are quite tasty. Really, the only one I will avoid is the unfortunate orange.

Monday, February 09, 2009

Around the same time last year, I wrote about Chocolate Mix Skittles. This year, Skittles adds the new Crazy Cores to their collection. Crazy Cores Skittles boast two flavors in each piece. There are five different colors in the bag for a total of 10 flavors. From what I can tell, the chewy center and the candy shell are two independent flavors that blend together when chewed up. Here's how they pan out:

Blue Raspberry & Lemon: This one has a blue raspberry shell and lemon yellow core. I'm usually stay away from blue raspberry stuff, if only to avoid the blue mouth of death look, but this flavor turned out to be one of my favorites. I think the raspberry and the lemon work well together. Off to a good start.

Melon Berry: With a purplish shell and light green center, its obvious that the berry provides the outer layer of flavor, but melon (probably honeydew) pretty much overpowers this one.

Mango Peach: The mango center is quite tasty. It's fruity and a little creamy. Artificial peach flavor usually reminds me of Glade air freshener, but here with the mango it's not unbearable.

Strawberry Watermelon: I had the least amount of this flavor in my bag which was a shame because it's pretty good. The watermelon candy shell is reminiscent of watermelon Bubblicious, while the strawberry core is nice and tangy without being too sweet.

Cherry Lemonade: I think this flavor is my favorite in the bag. It's not overly cherry and the lemonade center tastes like Country Time lemonade drink mix powder.

I found Skittles Crazy Cores near the register at Walgreen's for $0.89.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

You may no longer have to imagine what it's like to trek through the Gumdrop Mountains, soon you'll be able to experience it live on the big screen. Variety reports that Universal Pictures will be putting out a live-action movie based on the popular board game. Read more about it here.